Trump quits presidential race — an election fantasy or is it?

In part, that’s because he did not enter the race to head the GOP ticket to win. A man who likes to see his name in print, he thought he would gain great publicity that could bolster his business reputation. He thought he might come in second. Winning was as much a surprise to him as it was to everybody else.

He had no idea of how difficult it is to run and how many people you have to please. In fact, he had no political idea at all and came to believe that his natural abilities, obvious to him if not to many others, would provide all the answers he needed.

His candidacy struck a spark with some voters fed up with Washington’s way of doing business. Whatever Trump meant politically, and nobody knew what that was, he certainly would bring change.

But the daily slogging through a campaign for which he was unprepared and the incessant criticism from Democrats and Republicans were taking the fun out of running. The media believed nothing, including tax returns, is personal. When he was criticized, he hit back, producing even more problems.

Running turned out to be more complicated than business. Trump selected a few key states as his campaign focus, partly because that did not require many overnight trips away from his Manhattan tower.

Even worse, saying whatever he thought got him into trouble. Having political instincts closer to a pugnacious schoolboy than a major party candidate appealed to some but lost him support in the polls. He worried he could turn out to be seen as a “loser.”

Having accomplished what he set out to do – make the Trump name a national byword – he decided matters had gone far enough. To the surprise of all and the relief of many, he abruptly announced that he would step aside as the GOP nominee.

The Republican National Committee, seeking to avoid a lengthy and bloody fight for succession, picked his vice presidential running mate Mike Pence as its replacement presidential nominee.

Fox announced that Trump would have his own show – “Celebrity Candidate” – on its news station.